Temasek, Telstra back $149m Australian innovation push

UK-based M&G Investments also came into the round as a new backer, while Invesco, Woodford Investment Management, and Lansdowne Partners all re-upped.

IP Group’s investment in Australia is based on a set of commercialization agreements with nine universities: the University of Adelaide, Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, Monash University, UNSW Sydney, the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney, the University of Western Australia, and the University of Auckland.

The A$200 million will be deployed over a 10-year period in spin-out companies based on IP developed by academics at these schools. Research areas of interest include digital medicine, new medical therapies, and quantum computing. The agreements with each university are for an initial 20-year term.

“The business model we are using is similar to the model IP Group has used successfully in the UK and the US; providing business-building expertise, capital, networks, recruitment and business support. We believe the model is ideally suited to the Australian and New Zealand markets and represents a significant commercial opportunity for all those involved,” said Alan Aubrey, CEO of IP Group, in a statement.

The eight Australian universities involved in the program together spend around A$6 billion on research, of which A$2 billion is spent on medical and health services research. Meanwhile, IP Group has holdings in approximately 100 early-stage to mature businesses across biotech, cleantech, healthcare, and technology.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Europe
• Early-stage
• Technology
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Venture
• Temasek Holdings
• Telstra Ventures